Sammakia named interim vice president for research

Bahgat Sammakia, director of the Small Scale Systems Integration and Packaging Center (S3IP), and professor of mechanical engineering, and systems science and industrial engineering, has been appointed interim vice president for research at Binghamton University, effective Sept. 1.

Sammakia, who also served as interim vice president for research in 2003-04, will continue to devote a portion of his time to directing S3IP while the University conducts a national search to replace Gerald Sonnenfeld, who departed to become vice president for research at Clemson University.

“Bahgat Sammakia’s experience and knowledge as a researcher, mentor and leader encompass all of the qualities we need to keep strengthening our vital research programs,” said C. Peter Magrath, interim president. “He is one of our many creative stars and it’s a big win for Binghamton that he is again taking on this leadership role.”

Sammakia received his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Alexandria in Egypt, and his master’s and doctorate degrees in mechanical engineering from the University at Buffalo. He was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania.

After joining IBM in 1984 as an engineer in the thermal management area, Sammakia held several managerial positions including managing the thermal management department, thermal and mechanical analysis groups, surface science group, chemical lab and the site technical assurance group. His last position before leaving IBM in 1998 was Senior Technical Staff Member and manager of research and development for organic packaging in the IBM Microelectronics division.

Sammakia became director of the Integrated Electronics Engineering Center (IEEC) in 1998, and he is the founding director of the S3IP, a New York State Center of Excellence, which was established in 2003. He holds 14 U.S. patents and 12 IBM technical disclosures and has published more than 150 technical papers in refereed journals and conference proceedings. Sammakia has contributed to three books on heat transfer and thermal management of electronic systems and is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

In June, he was selected to receive the 2010 ITherm Achievement Award for his contributions to electronics, thermal and thermomechanical research and his service to the electronics thermal management community.